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Kelly Death: Blame Blair, not the BBC

Today, Tory MP Robert Jackson has called for the resignation of the BBC chairman, Gavyn Davies, over the death of Dr. David Kelly.

Why?

According to BBC News it’s because:

“Mr Jackson accused BBC journalist Andrew Gilligan of inventing much of the report in which he claimed that a source had told him Downing Street had “sexed up” a dossier outlining the threat posed by Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction.”

Well, of course! After all, the story of the exaggeration of WMD claims must be untrue because we now know there was no exaggeration.

The brave “allied” forces (well, the US, UK and two Aussies) invaded Iraq and, just as Blair and Bush promised, there were the huge stockpiles of lethal chemical and bioweapons, pointed at the West.

Oh sorry, I forgot – they found fuck-all. Even after three months they’ve still found fuck-all.

So, this Tory MP is blustering that the BBC is wrong for inventing a story about the government lying about the Iraq threat when it’s patently obvious to everyone that the government did lie. Where is his basis for saying the story is invented? I rather think we now have the best proof that the story, whatever its source, was true: the absence of Iraqi WMDs.

Was it the BBC that named Kelly and therefore exposed him to the contemptuous interrogation of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee? No. It was the MoD. Who gives he MoD it’s orders? It’s certainly not the BBC – it’s Geoff Hoon and, ultimately, Tony Blair.

It’s also been reported today that Kelly actually pointed the finger of blame before his death. In several emails, he talked of “many dark actors playing games.” As the Edmonton Journal reports:

“Kelly made it clear that he felt ministers and government officials were responsible for exposing him to the unprecedented public scrutiny his family and friends believe was the cause of his suicide.”

Note – ministers and government officials, not the BBC.

The other aspect of the emails is that, although obviously stressed, he sounded like he was looking forward. This email was to his friend Professor Alistair Hay:

“Dear Alistair, many thanks for your support. Hopefully it will soon pass and I can get to Baghdad and get on with the real job. Best wishes, David.” (source: Edmonton Journal)

Again, this makes me repeat my observation that he was either pressurised by the government into taking his own life or that his death wasn’t suicide.

Perhaps the “many dark actors” sent their agents to ensure that Dr. Kelly would never speak again?